Police used GEDmatch database to find Golden State Killer

Wednesday

By now I'm sure you have heard about the capture of the suspected Golden State Killer.

The story is right out of a science fiction novel, if you were to go back a few years. Today, not so much.

Today we have the technology to match people from DNA samples. (We often read about someone finding birth parents or siblings.) We also read that no two people have exactly the same DNA, except identical twins.

So, how does this work?

In the case in California, a man committed many crimes back in the 1970s and 1980s, and then went silent. The trail went cold for almost 40 years.

Then, all of a sudden, there is an arrest. The man in custody is now 72 years old.

During the crime spree, DNA samples were left behind, and these were collected as part of the routine police work at the crime scenes.

The police had his DNA, but they couldn't do anything with it because you can't pin someone with a crime based on DNA unless you have something to compare it to. (It's just like having fingerprints that don't match anyone because they aren't in the system.)

The statewide data base was mainly for convicted felons who committed certain crimes, and our killer wasn't there. He had never been captured and tested.

Then somebody tried a new approach. The police created a fake profile on the popular DNA website GEDmatch.com, and uploaded the killer's information to it. (This isn't the actual DNA, but a report of the values in the DNA profile.)

This website was designed for genealogy, and is free to use. It has helped thousands of us find relatives and connect our family trees.

When you upload your DNA information, it is supposed to be you who is doing so, or you are supposed to have the permission of someone over 18 years of age.

However, there is no way the people at the website can prove that you are who you say you are. The website has had a disclaimer for a long time. (I don't know if this was done at the beginning, but I have seen it there in the several years since I loaded my DNA results.)

They say your results are supposed to be used for genealogy research, but there is no guarantee they won't be used for some other purpose.

In the comparison of the killer's DNA to others in the GEDmatch data base, a match was found. GEDmatch does not do the genetic testing; they merely interpret results from voluntary submissions by people who have been tested by other companies.

Someone, a relative of the killer, who may not even have known him, matched closely to his DNA. The match was close enough so police could track a family tree and narrow down the suspect list to one man.

They collected two samples of his 'discarded DNA' (saliva on a can, a used tissue, or something like that that he had thrown away in a public place).

These samples, from different days, were tested separately and came back as a perfect match to the DNA samples from the crime scenes, so police reacted, and a man is now in custody.

GEDmatch did nothing wrong. However, there is controversy over police procedure, because they didn't have his permission to test his sample.

What do you think? Should this type of testing be allowed? Is it moral? Should current technology be used to capture criminals? Are you now afraid to submit your sample for DNA analysis?

I would like to know your opinion. Email me.

By the way, I have my sample's information at GEDmatch, and I'm not planning on having it removed. I've also tested with the three largest companies.

I'm still looking for relatives, and this is one good way to do so. I've found many 'new' cousins through DNA testing, and I might never have found them if not for this amazing science.

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